Opinion: Opting Out?

Dear Editor, 

The following is a letter I sent to Donald Castellucci,Jr., Town of Owego supervisor. I wanted to share it with your readers.

Hi Don,

I received your letter concerning the Town of Owego CCA Program. I am choosing to opt out of the Constellation plan for a variety of reasons, and I am enclosing a copy of my opt-out reply card so there is no misunderstanding of my decision to not participate.

President Jimmy Carter, in 1979, installed 32 solar panels on the presidential mansion in the midst of the Arab oil embargo. This action was intended to encourage the development of renewable energy and to motivate the American people to conserve non-renewable energy resources.

When Ronald Reagan took office in 1982, one of his first acts was to order the removal of Carter’s solar panels. The panels were not removed until 1986, yet Reagan had made clear his view that corporate self-interest would steer energy policy during his administration.

I read your extraneous Reagan quote printed on both sides of the CCA letter. Here we are, 37 years since Reagan’s slap down of solar energy; climate change and global warming, fracking, unprecedented local flooding, extreme weather events costing lives and billions of dollars, etc. 

Who deserves the credit for the sordid state of affairs we now find ourselves in? All of us. But, most of all, those with power who knew better and did nothing.

Sincerely,

Lawrence Stein

Endicott, N.Y.